One thing I really am looking forward to, that we've seen glimpses of in the preseason and even in this game. IS that Pau attracts enough attention whenever he gets the ball and he is such a good(and tall) passer that he has been able to feed Dwight pretty effectively. Of course, the Lakers frankenoffense doesn't seem to allow for effective plays to be used more than once or twice a game, but I did like seeing the few times in this game when Pau got the ball and even if they didn't double him, he still commanded that extra look or that extra thought from Dwight's defender which would be enough for a pass and quick score(or hack)

I like their synergy already in that respect already more than I liked Pau and Bynum(though they had other things that worked well together).

His defense wasn't great tonight, but the team's defense overall wasn't great either, I wouldn't be too upset with Pau when ultimately he's never been a shut down defender to begin with.

I'm not looking to really defend Pau here, but once again he's being played too many minutes. He's not young anymore yet he's our starting PF AND our backup C. He played 40 mins, it's too much. What's the point of keeping Sacre if you aren't going to use him for a few minutes to get the old guy rest? In the 2nd half Pau got lazy on d, lazy on the boards, and I think it was at least partly fatigue.

Weezy wrote:I'm not looking to really defend Pau here, but once again he's being played too many minutes. He's not young anymore yet he's our starting PF AND our backup C. He played 40 mins, it's too much. What's the point of keeping Sacre if you aren't going to use him for a few minutes to get the old guy rest? In the 2nd half Pau got lazy on d, lazy on the boards, and I think it was at least partly fatigue.

This was all Brown fault, Gasol was obviously gassed near the end of the game, we have Hill and Jamison both can play at the 4 & 5 spot and contribute 20 minutes a game but our coach is just too stubborn and couldn't make the adjustment. I mean how the hell you play Gasol 40 minutes, Dwight 38 minutes, Kobe 35 minutes and Nash 34 minutes when there is an upcoming back to back game tomorrow at Portland, our core players are not that young either, just extremely bad rotations by Brown, very pissed off.

At times Pau looked aggressive, specifically when he was out there with the second unit. He was commanding the ball, and would sometimes take a good shot the in post. At other times he was taking fadeaways over players six inches shorter than him, or he would try and lay it in rather than dunking it. Also, he missed quite a few FTs which can't happen when you're as good a FT shooter as he is.

In the early part of the game, Pau was basically a 7ft version of Nash out there. I don't have a problem with him playing like that at all...that is utilizing a strength, but the ball is going away from Nash a little too much.

kray28 wrote:In the early part of the game, Pau was basically a 7ft version of Nash out there. I don't have a problem with him playing like that at all...that is utilizing a strength, but the ball is going away from Nash a little too much.

That is true, Pau is a great passer and I liked how he was constantly looking for Dwight when he got the ball up at the key. Once they build that cohesiveness I would think there would be a lot more lobs between the two.

kray28 wrote:In the early part of the game, Pau was basically a 7ft version of Nash out there. I don't have a problem with him playing like that at all...that is utilizing a strength, but the ball is going away from Nash a little too much.

That is true, Pau is a great passer and I liked how he was constantly looking for Dwight when he got the ball up at the key. Once they build that cohesiveness I would think there would be a lot more lobs between the two.

^^ Agreed. Loved the passing from Pau - we knew that would be there. That's why Adelman's offense would have been a no-brainer here last year and one of the major reasons I wanted him. I thought he would have maximized Pau's abilities from the high post.

And now with Nash, no doubt he would have been worked in better than what we are seeing now. Brown doesn't have the feel for the Princeton and this is not the time or place to be tinkering with things. As Kray said in another post - we need to have the attitude at least of "win now." I don't need the coach to keep saying things like "it's going to take these guys a LONG time to get the offense." Then scrap it. Do something that works. Utilize the ALL STAR TEAM lineup that you have in a more creative way. Stop trying to put them in a box that you can control. These guys know how to play basketball.

One thing I liked is that in the first quarter the starters were really looking for one another and making sure that there was a balance in the scoring between them - at least everyone but Metta.

Pau is such a versatile player, as long as their is some system and not that ISO ball we saw last year, he should be fine. Brown played him too many minutes though. There's no excuse to play him that long when you have capable backups like Hill and Jamison at the 4. At the 5 Sacre has even looked good.

^ I saw good and bad from Pau. He was certainly in the best condition of the starters. He was able to move and run the floor very, very well. His passing ability was really emphasized last night and I thought he made good decisions with the ball in his hand.

I thought defensively he showed the same deficiencies that he's shown the last two years. He isn't quick laterally and it isn't difficult to take him off the dribble baseline. He's still soft around the rim, often getting pushed around.

But those are things we've come to expect, or should have. I thought he looked light years ahead of what he did last season in the playoffs and much of the year. He'll improve as Dwight improves.